Apparatuses described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 8-17872 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-135649 suction the upper surface of a part with a suction nozzle to hold the part. For this purpose, the apparatuses are provided with a tube used for suction.
When a heat spreader is attached to the upper surface of a chip, sometimes the resulting upper surface is not parallel to the lower surface. In addition, depending on the adhesive used for attaching the heat spreader, the inclination of the upper surface to the lower surface differs from chip to chip.
The apparatuses described in the above patent documents can suction and move a part the upper and lower surfaces of which are not parallel.
However, the apparatuses described in the above patent documents are prevented from returning the suction nozzle to the reference state (return to horizontal position) by the influence of the tube eccentrically attached to the suction nozzle and the influence of the weight and tension of the tube itself. If the operation to suction a part is repeated without returning to the horizontal position, the inclination of the suction nozzle accumulates. If the inclination of the suction nozzle accumulates, the suction nozzle cannot follow the inclination of the upper surface of the part because of the position of the center of gravity. If the suction nozzle comes into contact with the part when the suction nozzle cannot follow the inclination of the upper surface of the part, the suction nozzle cannot produce a vacuum and fails to suction the part. In addition, a point load acts on the part and breaks the part.
The present invention returns a suction nozzle of a mounter apparatus to the reference state every time the operation to move a part is completed.